New Delhi: The Railways is considering linking Kisan trains with seasonal fruits and vegetables to benefit small farmers, senior ministry officials said on Sunday, even though political storm rages over the new farm bills that promise one nation one market.
First off the mark could be 'Orange Special Kisan train' between Nagpur and Delhi and 'Keenu Special' from Punjab to West Bengal and Odisha during December and January, the officials said.
The Kisan Rail services were launched last month and have so far carried around 4,100 tonne of goods from farmers to markets across the country. The officials said that they are still finalising details, but added that they have received feedback from zonal railways about the viability of running dedicated trains linking with seasonal produce. The Orange and Keenu special trains are likely to be the first ones to take off, a senior official told.
"We want to ensure that these trains are beneficial to small scale farmers who are not able to book the entire train," he said. "They can book as little as they want and still avail these services. Data show that the smallest consignment carried by Kisan Rail was a three kg pomegranate packet from Nasik to Muzaffarpur and around 17 dozen eggs from Manmad to Khandwa on August 14.
Farmers in some states are protesting against three proposed legislations: The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020; The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020. They have been alleging that once passed, these bills would pave the way for dismantling of minimum support price (MSP) system and leave the farming community at the "mercy" of big corporates.
Read: Farmers in Bengal give a thumbs down to farm bill
The Shiromani Akali Dal, the oldest BJP ally, has quit the NDA over the bills, while Opposition has been vehemently demanding their withdrawal. The government has, however, said the MSP regime would stay and called these bills as historic reforms. It has said that the bills would allow farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country, fetching them better remunerative prices. The Railways officials said that the three Kisan Rails in operation between Devlali-Danapur, Anantpur-Delhi and Yashwantpur-Nizamuddin are running on 85 per cent capacity.
Besides the Orange Special and the Keenu Special, on the anvil are Mango Special (Andhra Pradesh to Delhi between April to June), Onion Special (Nashik to Delhi, during March and December), Banana Special (Jalgaon to Delhi, during March and December); and Chiku Special (Surat, Valsad, Navsari to Delhi) during April-November. Officials said that the farther the goods are sent, the cheaper the cost of ferrying them.
Within the distance of 0-500 km, Railways services are expensive, but they are in par with the roadways for over 1,000 km distance, they said, adding that for over 2,000 km, the Railways is cheaper than the roadways by at least Rs 1,000 per tonne. These Kisan trains will be part of the zero-based time table that will be in effect soon, so even if regular services begin post-COVID-19, these trains will have dedicated routes and paths to operate on.
The government and the Railways are committed to rapidly increasing farmers' income, said the official quoted above. Ensuring that farmers are able to sell their produce across the country to get the best possible remuneration for the produce is one of the important ways to do so.
Kisan Rails represent one such determined freight marketing effort of Railways and it is expanding fast, he said. Earlier, farmers preferred to use trucks, now they have started using the Railways, he said, adding zonal teams are coordinating with the Ministry of Agriculture and actively pursuing local authorities to encourage farmers to use the national transporter.
PTI
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